Unhelpful

CNN headline - "Dying From Lack of Insurance." What a ridiculously manipulative headline, especially after reading the story. Here is a wonderful insight from our greatest news source:

Other studies have indicated that the uninsured are at greater risk of mortality than the insured.

If this wasn't the case, why would we pay for insurance at all?

Hannum thought he had a stomach flu or food poisoning from bad chicken. On Monday, his brother saw him looking ashen and urged him to go to the hospital. "He had a little girl on the way," his older brother Curtis Hannum said. "He didn't want the added burden of an ER visit to hang on their finances. He thought 'I'll just wait,' and he got worse and worse."

By the time Hannum got to the hospital and was admitted to surgery, it was too late.

Paul Hannum, 45, died on Thursday, August 3, 2006, from a ruptured appendix. His daughter, Cameron was born two months later.

The other stories are similar. Now, let's get facts straight. These folks died because they didn't go see the doctor and get properly diagnosed, not because they didn't have insurance. There are probably people without insurance who have ruptured appendix's and go to the doctor because they are in awful pain.

Obviously, I feel bad for anyone who can't afford insurance or doctor care or who runs into unlikely health problems and premature death. These things suck. But doesn't everyone know they ought to have some health insurance? I mean, that's not a secret, right? So if you are without insurance, are people trying to get insurance? Are their families trying to help them out? Their friends? Can't you go to Kaiser and pay a couple hundo a month and get some type of coverage?

People do dumb things all the time that cost them money and increase their chances of dying - they smoke, they drink, they drive too fast, they drink and drive too fast, they do drugs, they gamble, they don't wear their seatbelts, they eat fast food, they don't exercise, they don't see the doctor, they play risky sports, they travel in unsafe countries, they take high stress jobs, they do low stress jobs that don't pay enough...you get my point.

The meta-message here is - everyone should have health insurance. Fine. I agree. Who pays? I welcome anyone who volunteers to step up to the plate and pay for some strangers health insurance. In fact, why doesn't someone start a website that people without insurance can sign up for and others can voluntarily pay their health insurance for them? Seriously, explain why this is a bad idea...

This is what I never quite understand about liberal conceptions of good government. Liberals expect government to pay for socially good things - ie health insurance for everyone. When you ask who should pay, they argue, "the rich," ie someone else.